This time of year I often find myself with dozens of peppers from my home garden lined up on the counter. This recipe is a beautiful way to showcase the wonderfully whimsical shapes of homegrown peppers.

The recipe calls for ground beef, but any type of ground meat would work well including ground sheep, goat, venison, or pork sausage. Cooked lentils would also be a yummy substitution for meat.

Served with cherry tomatoes or a salad of sliced cucumbers, stuffed peppers make a celebratory summer meal.

Serves 6-8

18 small multicolor bell peppers

½ an onion finely minced

1 lb of Ground Beef

1 cup long grain brown rice

½ cup parmesan

3 tablespoons lard or butter

fresh garden herbs, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Saute beef in a skillet until brown

Drain the fat into the pot you will use to cook the rice

Stir the cup of rice into the fat on high heat until rice is coated and aromatic and ‘milky’, about 2-5 minutes

Add 2 cups of water, bring to a rolling boil then cover and simmer until all water is absorbed (about 40 minutes)

Combine the lard or butter and onion in a skillet and heat on low until onion is clear

Cut the top off of the peppers and set aside (note: if you have especially long or especially small peppers you can cut them along their sides instead of cutting off their tops)

Remove the seeds and place peppers in a baking dish

Combine ground beef, rice, cheese, herbs, and salt and pepper and scoop mixture into the open tops of the peppers

Place the “lids” back on the peppers and bake in the oven at 375 for 15 – 30 minutes

Peaches may just be my favorite fruit (although, I must admit, I find myself saying that about every fruit when it is in season!). It’s wonderful to be able to call ahead and reserve, then buy a bushel (or two, or three even!) of peaches at the height of the season.

My favorite way to eat peaches is standing in the summer sun with the juice dripping down my face and hands. I get a peck a week at the market just to eat; I slice them up and put them on top of yogurt for breakfast, I grill them for a simple beautiful summer dessert.

My second favorite way is opening a beautiful can of peaches on the first day of snow in the winter and serving them still swimming in their lovely peachy juice as snow flies outdoors.

I also freeze a good amount of peaches to use in cobblers and crisps throughout the year.

Whether you buy three pounds or three bushels you can get them fresh and local from a farmer near you:

Joe Engelbrecht’s Fourth Generation Orchard

Joe Engelbrcht grows over thirty varieties of peaches. Joe’s peaches are nothing short of amazing. In addition to selling fruit at both the Downtown Evansville on Fridays and the Historic Newburgh Market on Saturdays, the Engelbrecht’s have a farm stand open seven days a week. The farm stand is stocked with a wide selection of homegrown fruits and vegetables as well as honey, preserves, and regionally made soaps and candies.

This fourth generation family owned orchard has been in operation for over 130 years. A large variety of fruits are available at their farm market.

Mon – Sat 8 – 6

Sun 10 – 5

270-685-2444

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St. Phillip Peach

Patty and Joe Dewig have been growing peaches on 10 of their 20 beautiful hilly acres for 15 years. They grow all free stone varieties including Redhavens, White Ladies, Sugar Giants, Blushing Stars, Cresthavens, Redskins, Coraistars, and Klondike Whites.

Follow your nose when you get there to pick them up and you’ll be led to the kitchen of their lovely house where you can pick up your peaches from Pam Wannemuelher who runs the till and swaps recipes in the basement during peach season.

Leave Evansville just shy of seven in the morning with empty containers on board, drive north on Highway 41 until you see the Decker’s U-Pick Blueberries sign 5½ miles north of Princeton. Turn left onto Highway road 850 N and you’ll arrive behind a row of cars patiently waiting, their right blinkers clicking in the already humid hot air of a summer morning in Southern Indiana. At 7:30 one of the many seasonal workers at Decker’s Berries will walk to the edge of the gravel drive and direct the incoming traffic with a long orange flag in hand.

From the grassy parking lot you can look east and see the highway, or you can look northwest into the beautiful landscape of berry bushes that recede as far as the eye can see.

Follow the other berry enthusiasts, spanning generations; the ones that are just old enough to fill their mouths more than their buckets, to the ones who move deliberately towards the berry patch.

Decker’s provides buckets for picking berries, and some patrons bring something to sit on while harvesting, an overturned five-gallon bucket is a popular stool.

Decker’s Berries has been in operation for over thirty years. In the words of Jane Decker:

“We started with strawberries in the late sixties. While on vacation in the seventies, we found blueberry bushes growing in southern Illinois. Don thought that perhaps we could grow blueberries in southwestern Indiana. The farm "experts" told us that blueberries would not grow here and questioned -- even if they did, who would buy them? Ignoring the advice, Don did some research and decided to plant blueberry bushes. Fortunately they grew, and started producing enough blueberries to open for U-Pick in 1983. The bushes were small and the season was short, but it was a start. My husband, Don, died in Nov. 2010 but we have continued the operation. With my daughter, Julie, and her husband, Ed, we are continuing Don’s dream of a retail blueberry business.”

Filling a bucket, one berry at a time, it’s easy to get lost in thought, but much more likely to get lost in good conversation. I’ve gone to Decker’s alone a few times, always coming home not only with berries but with stories and recipes from whoever is picking next to me in the berry patch.

Jane Decker says several marriages have resulted fromm couples meeting in the strawberry and blueberry fields. At least half a dozen that she knows of, including Jane’s daughter Julie who met her husband there.

There is something very special about picking those berries on the hill, time passes at a different pace there, and it’s easy for a morning to fly by in good conversation and a full berry bucket.

When you’ve picked your fill, check out in the parking lot. They’ll weigh your berries and sell you a waxed paper box if you didn’t bring any containers. You can pay with cash or check and then return home with your splendid berry haul, some of which you will enjoy in copious amounts for the coming week and some you can put by for the winter.

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A note about chemicals:

We have given much thought to how to talk about chemical sprays at Food from Here (you can read more an overview of our Food Philosophy). Our intuition tells us that these berries, from the rolling hills of Hazelton, IN, are more nutritious than anything you could buy in a grocery store either “conventional” or “organic”. We do a thorough job of giving the berries a nice double or triple rinse in the sink at home because the berries are sprayed:

“We do use fertilizer, fungicides and pesticides to grow and protect the blueberries. We feel that without using these products (in the recommended amounts per the state chemist and the universities in Indiana and surrounding states) that our crop of berries would be smaller berries, fewer berries, or no berries that anyone would want to pick because of various diseases and many pests that like to chew on blueberries.”

At Food From Here we believe Organic practices are best for people and for the planet. However, we believe that Decker's Berries is a good example of conventional local food trumping industrial organic. Picked at the height of the season and enjoyed in the days after picking, these berries are loaded with flavor and nutrients that embody the living hills they were grown in and the dreams of the family that planted them. Preserved as jam, or pie filling, or frozen for compotes or a bite to eat later on a winter day, these berries not only feed our body, but also our souls with the memory and taste of summer. That is not something you can buy at the grocery store.

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The Decker’s expect the berry season to last through June and maybe stretch into the first days of July. Do go, and get lost in the berries.

Located on Evansville’s northwest side, Off the Fence Farms is a family farm with three generations living and working together to grow top quality produce.

Steve Willett started growing produce to sell about five years ago in addition to his full time job. Since their farming operation has expanded so much since then, this year his daughter Gwen and her husband Kenneth have taken over farming full time. Gwen, Kenneth and their daughter Jadyn gave us a tour of their vegetable rows. At the time, carrots, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, and cauliflower were in.

The peas and tender spring greens are finished for the season

Now they have cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, zucchini, red white and yellow onions, and two varieties of green beans to offer.

Okra, lima beans and tomatoes are soon to come.

Their peppers stand out as the most beautiful I’ve seen. They grow hot jalapeño peppers as well as a wide variety of sweet bell peppers ranging in color from purple, red and green.

They describe their produce as “Consumer Certified Organic”; customers can come to their farm and see their practices. They are not USDA certified, but grow their goods using no synthetic pesticides or herbicides. They do use some OMRI certified sprays to keep bugs at bay. This spring they experimented with Marigold Spray to combat worms on their broccoli and cauliflower.

To combat weeds they use sheet mulch. They also hoe and pick weeds by hand.

The first year they farmed they watered with city water, leaving the water out in plastic buckets to off-gas the chlorine, but even taking that precaution they noticed their plants weren’t doing very well, so they installed a pump in their pond and now irrigate their crops with a drip irrigation system from their own rain fed water supply on their property.

This family farm is nicely rounded out with a pasture full of farm animals including a couple of cows, a horse, goats and chickens. They sell eggs at their farm. Their chickens are pastured and fed organic feed, the yolks are dark orange and strong, the whites are high quality, whipping up in a minute or so for instead of the 5-10 minutes it takes with some other eggs.

Off the Fence Farms is currently attending the Evansville Downtown Market, Historic Newburgh Market, and New Harmony Market. They will begin attending the Wadesville and Mt. Vernon Markets as they have more produce.

We are Cristine Dawson and Mandy Gerth of Evansville, IN. We started Food from Here as a way to share our love of food with a larger community. The information about farms we provide will be most useful to our friends and neighbors who live in Southern Indiana, but we hope our seasonal recipes and nutritional information will interest people far and wide.

We feel there are some voices missing from the current food movement and want to start filling in some of that gap with our own voices, the voices of two mothers of young children who are devoted to feeding their families real food on a modest income.

In a jumble of food writing that gets overwrought and over thought we hope to be a voice of joy, simplicity, and sanity.

Our food philosophy is simple: we love food.

We recognize that in contemporary America there are many food ‘phobias’ and food fads; there is much talk of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ when it comes to food. There is much food anxiety and an unfortunate addiction to dieting.

At Food From Here we see food as a joy and a blessing.

We love food because it tastes good and nourishes our spirit, it creates and radiates health from the inside out.

We support local farms.

We want to buy food that has been grown ethically and sustainably. We prefer to buy food from growers who grow food in a way that nourishes the earth.

We prefer to buy local ‘beyond organic’ foods for many reasons. Buying locally allows us to visit farms first hand, ask questions, and see where our food is grown. It also creates an incredible opportunity for change in our local food supply.

When you buy local and ask questions about your food, when you know your farmers by their first name, you have a direct link to not only supporting the food supply, but changing it, creating a demand for the ‘organic’ foods you want.

Although our preference is for local ‘beyond organic’ food we also support local food that isn’t produced by organic means. We would rather buy ‘conventional’ fresh fruits directly from farmers we know than USDA Certified Organic produce from farmers we don’t know.

We respect the fact that there are risks involved with organic productions, especially for disease prone perennials (such as fruit trees). We would rather there be orchards here in southern Indiana that spray to keep the bugs and fungus at bay than for all the orchards (organic or otherwise) to be located in California while our beautiful Midwestern soil gets turned over for more GMO corn and soy production.

Do we wish there were biodynamic organic fruits, nuts, and grains (and Local ICE CREAM!!!) available in southern Indiana? Yes, we do! But we recognize that these will not be available locally when we spend our food dollars at Whole Foods or Trader Joes. These changes will come when we rise up as a community and demand a safe and nutritious food supply and brave hard-working farmers take the great risk of doing things differently to meet this demand.

We love preparing food.

Our kitchens are a busy place. There are grains soaking and kombucha fermenting on the countertops. There is bone broth simmering on the back burner and lettuce, picked this morning, waiting to be rinsed by the sink. We love garlic and greens, butter and lard.

Our kitchens are not clean and pristine. They are not stocked with fancy appliances or high-end gear. They are places full of love and learning and the smell of dinner simmering on the stove.

Our refrigerators contain fresh milk and free range eggs; all produced in our community as well as regionally produced meat and cheese. We keep kitchen gardens full of fresh greens and herbs for daily cooking. Our freezers and pantries are full of local meat, fruit, and vegetables purchased directly from farmers at the height of the season and enjoyed throughout the year. Our shelves are lined with whole grains, nuts, and seeds purchased from independently owned farms though our independently owned grocer.

We are excited to be on this journey with you and look forward to learning with you.

The Farmer’s Market in New Harmony, Indiana is off to a strong start this year. The market began on April 21st and has included local honey, grass-fed beef, free-range eggs, spring vegetables, handmade soaps and all natural household cleaners. The market also offers world-class crafts by the regional New Harmony artists including handmade baskets, fiber art, handmade books, and more. If you live in Evansville and would like to make a nice day trip start off with the New Harmony Market and bring a list of all the wedding, anniversary, and birthday gifts you need for the summer. Pick up your gifts and your weekly groceries all in one beautiful setting and then enjoy the day in Historic New Harmony.

The Historic Newburg Farmer’s Market had its debut last year. Set right on the water’s edge in the quaint community of historic Newburgh, this year the market will have live entertainment like music and belly dancing and a few educational workshops. These things coupled with a wonderfully long list of favorite local farmers selling their goods as well as artists selling their wares, this is a great market.

I am originally from Evansville and when moving back to my hometown three years ago I was excited to visit the Evansville Downtown Farmers’ Market. In Carbondale, IL and Philadelphia, PA, the two cities I lived in when I moved away from Evansville, the local markets became an important part of my life, a weekly place to run into friends and talk to the food growers.

My market excitement quickly turned to confusion and then a sinking feeling of sadness that day three years ago when I visited the Downtown market. Why are there bananas in plastic cups for sale at this “farmers’ market”? Why are there melons for sale in early summer, they can’t possibly be in season yet. I walked past a sprawling four-table display boasting chemically toxic looking tomatoes and sad lifeless melons to a smaller table. This table was full of early green beans, a beautiful collection of hearty cooking greens, and the first of the year’s summer squash. I could tell by this young woman’s strong hands and display of ruggedly beautiful produce that she was a farmer, not a food vendor. That was the first week I bought produce from Wendy Wilson of Vegetable Land. After asking her some questions about her farming practices and then enjoying her amazingly tasty produce for a week I knew it wouldn’t be the last time I bought food from her.

If you have been turned off by the Downtown Market in past years I strongly urge you to give it another try. There is a board of farmers involved that are trying to re-direct the market’s focus to locally grown produce. You can support the changes at the market by voting with your dollars. Show what this market means to your family and our community by coming to the market and buying your weekly groceries from area farmers.

The first time we drove out to Farview we got lost. I love Aimee's advice in her article, "The best route from Evansville to Farview Orchard is to enter Wadesville, Ind., on Indiana 66, turn south on Springfield Road across from Subway, then follow the red apple signs 7 miles to the orchard. Stay awake — there are lots of turns. Farview’s address is 4200 Oliver Springfield Road, but don’t use your GPS or you’ll wind up on a rock road with a bridge out."

This will be the last weekend for sweet cherries at Farview Orchards. They expect the sour cherry crop to hold out for another two weeks. It is always a good idea to call first for availability.

If you don't have time to go out picking cherries you can call ahead and pick up picked cherries at Far View Orchards. You may also be able to get some of the last of the cherries from Joe's Orchard.

Give Joe a call at 812 305 5070 or check out his facebook page to see if cherries are still available.